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The Power of Pause: Why We All Need Time to Refresh, Restart, and Refuel

Last year in November, I led a group of 22 participants from 5 countries in a personal development retreat in Sri Lanka called “Productive Muslim Retreat“. You can watch highlights of the retreat below:

The goal of the retreat was to help everyone PAUSE and reflect on where they are headed in life, and plan to implement practical ways to achieve their life goals (learn more about this year’s upcoming retreat in Mauritius 1st-8th July at productivemuslimretreat.com)

In this article, I’ll share with you why we should pause, why we don’t like to pause, how faith has always asked us to pause, some practical ways to pause in your life, and an opportunity to attend our upcoming retreat where you can pause to refresh, restart and refuel.

Why should we pause?

Imagine driving a car at 100 miles per hour for 24-48 hours straight, not stopping for any traffic light, stop sign, or pedestrian crossing. And keeping your eyes straight on the road at all times. What would happen?

You’ll most probably get into an accident, or run out of fuel, or die from exhaustion, or end up in the wrong destination because you didn’t notice the sign that said “Detour”!

As insane as the above example sound, for some of us, this is exactly how we’ve been living our lives, always full speed ahead, not taking the time to pause and reflect or enjoy the scenery and the people we’re with. And even if we do pause (usually because we are forced to), it’s done in a hurried manner, as if these moments are obstacles in the great rush of life.

“So where are you going?”

There’s a verse in the Qur’an that always stops me in my tracks. It forces me to pause. It’s made of a simple, yet profound, question where Allah says:

Imagine someone stopping you in the middle of your work, or a TV commercial, or when you’re stuck in a traffic jam and asks, “so where are you going?” You can almost imagine the pin drop silence that will take place in your head as you realize the full impact of this question.

This is not about where are you heading with your career, or family, or your next pet project, but where are you heading with your life? Look at your life from a 50,000 ft view and tell me where are you going?

Why don’t we like to pause?

Pausing and reflecting helps you make conscious decisions that will lead to a meaningful life. The other option is going with the flow, not pausing and reflecting or making the right decisions, and regretting later in life… So, why don’t we take pauses more often?

We usually give excuses such as “I don’t have time” or “I’m too busy” or “I have far more important things to do”. But the truth is, we don’t like to pause because it is very uncomfortable!

Moments of pause (even for a fleeting few minutes) force us to realize that some of the choices we’re making right now might have undesirable consequences later (e.g. that high-flying career we’re globetrotting for might destroy our family life, not investing in our health and fitness might haunt us when it’s too late, delaying fulfilling our faith duties because of work/family might bankrupt us spiritually… etc). And none of us like to be wrong!

But here’s the key takeaway: unless we do take time out to pause and reflect, we’ll never have a chance to realize whether we need to adjust the steering wheel of life by a few degrees, or make a total U-turn before it’s too late.

How faith encourages us to pause?

There is a human tendency to always rush, rush, rush as Allah says in the Qur’an:

Pause in our consumption, once a year through the ritual of fasting during the month of Ramadan.

Pause in our spending, once a year, through the ritual of zakat, calculating our wealth and paying 2.5% to the poor.

Pause once in our lifetime, for the journey of Hajj, to reflect on where we are in the continuum of History and where we stand in life.

These moments of pause – if taken seriously and slowly – can have a tremendous impact on one’s life. The key part, of course, is “if taken seriously…”

Practical tips to pause in your daily life

In addition to faith rituals that help you pause and reflect, you can engineer moments of pause in your life to help you get further benefits. Below are my favorite five moments of pause:

Morning pause: Before you start your work day, spend 10-15 minutes pausing and reflecting on how you want to spend your day and the choices you’ll make that day.

Evening pause: At the end of your day, spend another 10-15 minutes pausing on how the day went and what would make tomorrow a better day?

Once a week pause: This is the weekly review that’s recommended by productivity guru David Allen in his Getting Things Done book – and it’s powerful to help you assess all the projects that you’re currently working on.

Once a quarter pause: I normally like to work in 3-month chunks (instead of a 1-month chunk) as I end up making meaningful progress on key projects during that time period. But taking the time to pause every 3 months helps ensure that the year doesn’t end without significant progress on some of the key projects in our work plan.

Once a year personal retreat: I referred to this above. This is where you head out to somewhere beautiful once a year and take the 50,000 ft view of life and then plan how to actually implement your goals for the following year. It’s extremely powerful! More about this below.

The Productive Muslim Retreat: An Opportunity to Pause and Refresh, Restart, Refuel

I think everyone came to the retreat last year not sure what to expect, but what we all discovered was how powerful it is to take 5-7 days out of your life to just pause and immerse yourself in a self-development experience with a mentor and teacher. People genuinely left the retreat feeling refreshed. refueled, and ready to re-start their lives again. See a testimonial video below from one of last year’s participant below:

ProductiveMuslim Retreat 2017 | Mauritius

We want to replicate last year’s experience on another 5-star resort in the beautiful island of Mauritius this July. We are expecting a lot more participants from all over the world and we’re inviting you to join us as well. You can find details about the retreat at productivemuslimretreat.com and apply by clicking the “Book Now To Reserve Your Spot” button on the website or by clicking here.

Abu Productive is the nickname of the founder & CEO of ProductiveMuslim.com, Mohammed Faris. He is an international coach, author, and speaker who helps professionals and entrepreneurs live the best versions of themselves spiritually, physically and socially. He's also the author of the book "The ProductiveMuslim: Where Faith Meets Productivity" Get your copy here (ProductiveMuslimBook.com)

Dear brother and the whole team,
I greatly appreciate your work and sometimes even become envious of people like you who by Allah SWT’s guidance are helping people to strengthen their eman while being ever productive in this world. I was fascinated by your idea about a retreat to pause and reflect and wish many Muslim brothers and sisters could be a part of this. In present times,many of our brothers and sisters seem to be in difficult situations not only physically but sometimes it seems far more psychologically. I personally know someone who could most certainly make use of this retreat but I am afraid neither I can fund it for this individual and nor can she/he spend so much on themselves.

Sometimes it seems that most good things are for people who have much ,but if that is Allahs will, I cannot complain at all. May many continue to benefit from your efforts ,not only in this project but all that you do for the Muslim world and may you all be rewarded many folds.Ameen.

I understand where you’re coming from. It does seem like the good things in life require time and money, which are in limited supply, but there are free methods through which one can take a mental retreat. We all need a break sometimes in order to stay focused and healthy. For example, getting up in the middle of the night to pray tahajjud can be very calming because it’s just you communicating with Allah [swt] during the quiet stillness of the night. Taking an early morning walk and breathing in the cool, crisp air can be refreshing. Going early to the masjid to pray nafl and read Quran is another idea. Some deep breathing before going to bed can be relaxing. Another favorite of mine is to plan a day to spend at a local forest preserve or park; after I took the time to look, I’ve found some hidden gems close to home.

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